Incoming communication routing

ABSTRACT

The present application includes operations related to routing communications. In some embodiments, the operations may include receiving, from a third-party communication address, an incoming communication directed toward a general communication address associated with a communication system. The operations may also include routing the incoming communication to a specific communication address associated with the communication system instead of to the general communication address based on a previous outgoing communication being from the specific communication address and being directed toward the third-party communication address.

FIELD

The embodiments discussed herein are related to incoming communicationrouting.

BACKGROUND

An entity, such as a business, may have multiple communication addresses(e.g., telephone numbers, email addresses, etc.) that may be used toconduct communications. The communication addresses may include one ormore general communication addresses that may be associated with theentity in general and one or more specific communication addresses thatmay be associated with particular individuals or groups who may beassociated with the entity.

SUMMARY

The present application includes operations related to routingcommunications. In some embodiments, the operations may includereceiving, from a third-party communication address, an incomingcommunication directed toward a general communication address associatedwith a communication system. The operations may also include routing theincoming communication to a specific communication address associatedwith the communication system instead of to the general communicationaddress based on a previous outgoing communication being from thespecific communication address and being directed toward the third-partycommunication address.

The objects and advantages of the embodiments will be realized andachieved at least by the elements, features, and combinationsparticularly pointed out in the claims. Both the foregoing generaldescription and the following detailed description are given as examplesand are explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, asclaimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments will be described and explained with additionalspecificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment related to routing incomingcommunications received at a communication system;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example method to route incomingcommunications received at a communication system; and

FIG. 3 illustrates an example computing system that may be used to routeincoming communications received at a communication system, all arrangedaccording to one or more embodiments described in the presentdisclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Some embodiments in this disclosure relate to systems and methods thatmay be configured to route incoming communications that may be receivedat a communication system. For example, the communication system may beconfigured to manage communications that may be directed to or originatefrom communication addresses of an entity. The communication addressesmay include one or more general communication addresses that may beassociated with the entity in general but that may not be associatedwith any one individual, such as a general telephone number or a generalemail address of the entity. Additionally, the communication addressesmay include one or more specific communication addresses that may beassociated with particular individuals or groups of individuals who maybe associated with the entity (e.g., employees, owners, members, etc.).

In these or other embodiments, the communication system may beconfigured to route an outgoing communication that originated from aspecific communication address such that the outgoing communication isidentified on the receiving end as coming from the general communicationaddress. For example, a telephone call from a specific telephone numberof the entity may be routed such that the telephone call may beidentified by a device that receives the telephone call as being from ageneral telephone number of the entity instead of from the specifictelephone number. As another example, an email sent from a specificemail address of the entity may be routed such that the email may beidentified in the receiving email account as being from a general emailaddress of the entity.

In some instances, a person who receives the outgoing communication mayattempt to reply to the outgoing communication. For example, the personmay attempt to return a phone call associated with the outgoingcommunication or reply to an email associated with the outgoingcommunication. However, given that the outgoing communication may beindicated on the receiving end as being derived from a generalcommunication address, the incoming reply communication may beoriginally directed toward the general communication address instead ofto the specific communication address from which the previous outgoingcommunication originated.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, acommunication system may be configured such that incoming communicationsthat are directed toward a general communication address may be routedto a specific communication address based on previous outgoingcommunications. For example, the communication system may receive anincoming communication from a third-party communication address. Theincoming communication may be directed toward a general communicationaddress associated with the communication system. The communicationsystem may be configured to determine whether the third-partycommunication address was a destination address of a previous outgoingcommunication from a specific communication address associated with thecommunication system. In response to determining that the third-partycommunication address was the destination address of a particularprevious outgoing communication, the communication system may identify aparticular specific communication address associated with thecommunication system from which the particular previous outgoingcommunication originated. The communication system may route theincoming communication to the particular specific communication addressbased on the particular previous outgoing communication originating fromthe particular specific communication address and based on theparticular previous outgoing communication being directed toward thethird-party communication address.

The communication system configured in this manner may be an improvementon communication systems by intelligently routing incomingcommunications to specific communication addresses that may be bettersuited for receiving the incoming communications than a generalcommunication address. Such improvements may include, for example,increased efficiency by bypassing traditional mechanisms used to directincoming communications based on user input or manual forwarding ofcommunications by individuals. Additionally, the intelligent routing mayreduce availability to outsiders of specific communication addresseswhile also allowing outsiders to directly contact specific communicationaddresses.

Turning to the figures, FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100related to routing incoming communications received at a communicationsystem 102. The environment 100 may be arranged in accordance with atleast one embodiment described in the present disclosure. Theenvironment 100 may include the communication system 102, a network 104,and a communication host 106. The communication system 102 may include acommunication host 108 and data storage 110.

The network 104 may be configured to communicatively couple thecommunication host 106 and the communication system 102. In someembodiments, the network 104 may be any network or configuration ofnetworks configured to send and receive communications between systemsand devices. In some embodiments, the network 104 may include a wirednetwork, an optical network, and/or a wireless network, and may havenumerous different configurations. In some embodiments, the network 104may include a peer-to-peer network. The network 104 may also be coupledto or may include portions of a telecommunications network for sendingdata in a variety of different communication protocols. In someembodiments, the network 104 may include an Internet Protocol (IP) basednetwork such as the Internet. In some embodiments, the network 104 mayinclude cellular communication networks for sending and receivingcommunications and/or data including via hypertext transfer protocol(HTTP), direct data connection, wireless application protocol (WAP),etc. The network 104 may also include a mobile data network that mayinclude third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), long-termevolution (LTE), long-term evolution advanced (LTE-A), Voice-over-LTE(“VoLTE”) or any other mobile data network or combination of mobile datanetworks. In these or other embodiments, the network 104 may include anycombination of analog, digital, and/or optical networks that form apublic switched telephone network (PSTN) that may transport audio of acommunication session.

The communication host 106 may be configured to conduct communicationsrelated to a third-party communication address 114 (“third-party address114”). The third-party address 114 may be any suitable identifier of athird-party communication account (“third-party account”). Additionallyor alternatively, the third-party address 114 may be used by devices orsystems to establish communications with or provide communications tothe third-party account and/or to identify that communicationsoriginated from the third-party account. Reference to a “third-partycommunication address” or a “third-party communication account” in thepresent disclosure may include communication addresses or communicationaccounts that may be managed or associated with a communication systemthat is separate from the communication system 102.

The third-party account may include any account that may be used toconduct communications. For example, the third-party account may includea landline telephone account, a mobile telephone account, an emailaccount, a social media account, a video call account (e.g., a SKYPE®account), etc. Examples of the third-party address 114 may include alandline telephone number, a mobile telephone number, an email address,a username, etc.

In some embodiments, the communication host 106 may include memory andat least one processor, which are configured to perform operations asdescribed in this disclosure, among other operations. Additionally oralternatively, the communication host 106 may include computer-readableinstructions that are configured to be executed by the communicationhost 106 to perform operations described in this disclosure.

As indicated above, the communication host 106 may include any suitableapparatus, system, or device that may be configured to conductcommunications related to the third-party address 114. Conductingcommunications related to the third-party address 114 may include thecommunication host 106 accessing, by sending data to or retrieving datafrom, the third-party account associated with the third-party address114 where the third-party account is hosted by another system.Alternatively or additionally, conducting communications related to thethird-party address 114 may include the communication host 106 managingthe third-party account, receiving communications directed toward thethird-party address 114, sending communications originating from thethird-party address 114, relaying communications directed toward or fromthe third-party address 114, storing communications associated with thethird-party address 114, etc.

Examples of the communication host 106 may include devices that may beassociated with a person to whom the third-party account may belong ormay be assigned. For instance, in some embodiments, the communicationhost 106 may include a desktop computer, a laptop computer, asmartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a telephone, a phoneconsole, etc. that may be used by the person with respect to conductingcommunications related to the third-party address 114.

Additionally or alternatively, the communication host 106 may beassociated with a communication service provider that manages thethird-party address 114 and/or the third-party account and thecorresponding services associated with the third-party account. In theseor other embodiments, the communication host 106 may include one or moresystems, apparatuses, or devices that that are configured to manage thethird-party account and corresponding operations of the third-partyaccount. For instance, the communication host 106 may include one ormore servers of a communication service provider of the third-partyaccount that provide processing and storage infrastructure used tomanage the third-party account. In these or other embodiments, thecommunication host 106 may include one or more access points (e.g., basestations, switching stations, routers, etc.) of the communicationservice provider that route communications associated with thethird-party account and the third-party address 114.

The communication system 102 may include any suitable configuration ofhardware, such as processors, servers, and/or data storage servers thatare communicatively coupled and configured to perform one or more tasksrelated to managing communications with respect to communicationaddresses and/or communication accounts of an entity. For example, thecommunication system 102 may include one or multiple computing systems,such as multiple servers that each include memory and at least oneprocessor. As indicated above, the communication system 102 may includethe communication host 108 and the data storage 110. In someembodiments, the communication host 108 and the data storage 110 may bepart of or included in one or more of the same computing systems.Additionally or alternatively, the communication host 108 and the datastorage 110 may be separate systems that do not share any computingsystems.

In the present disclosure, communication addresses and/or communicationaccounts that are described as being managed by the communication system102 may be referred to as being “associated with” the communicationsystem 102. Alternatively, communication addresses and/or communicationaccounts that are not managed by the communication system 102 may not be“associated with” the communication system 102.

The communication host 108 may include any suitable system, apparatus,or device configured to manage one or more communication addressesassociated with the communication system 102. In the present example,the communication host 108 may be configured to manage a generalcommunication address 116 (“general address 116”), a first specificcommunication address 118 (“first address 118”), and a second specificcommunication address 120 (“second address 120”), which may each beassociated with the communication system 102. Additionally, each of thegeneral address 116, the first address 118, and the second address 120may be associated with the same entity. For example, the general address116 may be a general communication address that is associated with theentity in general, the first address 118 may be associated with (e.g.,assigned) a first person associated with the entity (e.g., an employee,owner, member, etc., of the entity), and the second address 120 may beassociated with a second person associated with the entity.

In these or other embodiments, the general address 116 may correspond toa general communication account (“general account”) that may be assignedto or owned by the entity, the first address 118 may correspond to afirst specific communication account (“first account”) that may beassigned to or owned by the first person, and the second address 120 maycorrespond to a second specific communication account (“second account”)that may be assigned to or owned by the second person. Additionally oralternatively, the communication host 108 may be configured to manageone or more of the general account, the first account, and the secondaccount.

Management of the general address 116, the first address 118, and thesecond address 120 by the communication host 108 may include the routingof communications to and/or from the general address 116, the firstaddress 118, and the second address 120. In some embodiments, thecommunication host 108 may route the communications via a communicationrouter 112 (“router 112”). The router 112 and its correspondingoperations are described in further detail below.

Management of the general account, the first account, and/or the secondaccount by the communication host 108 may include performing operationsor providing infrastructure that allows communications to be conductedvia the general account, the first account, or the second account. Forexample, the communication host 108 may include one or more servers thatare configured to store data associated with the general account, thefirst account, and/or the second account and/or associated withmaintaining the general account, the first account, and/or the secondaccount. Additionally or alternatively, the communication host 108 maybe configured to handle communication protocols associated with thegeneral account, the first account, and/or the second account.

The data storage 110 may include computer-readable storage media forcarrying or having computer-executable instructions or data structuresstored thereon. Such computer-readable storage media may include anyavailable media that may be accessed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, suchcomputer-readable storage media may include tangible or non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media including Random Access Memory (RAM),Read-Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM), Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) or other opticaldisk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,flash memory devices (e.g., solid state memory devices), or any otherstorage medium which may be used to carry or store particular programcode in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structuresand which may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purposecomputer. In these and other embodiments, the term “non-transitory” asexplained in the present disclosure should be construed to exclude onlythose types of transitory media that were found to fall outside thescope of patentable subject matter in the Federal Circuit decision of Inre Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Combinations of the abovemay also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

In some embodiments, the data storage 110 may include a communicationlog 122. The communication log 122 may include log entries related toprevious outgoing communications that originated from communicationaddresses associated with the communication system 102. Each log entrymay include an origination address that is a particular communicationaddress from which the corresponding previous outgoing communication mayoriginate. Additionally, each log entry may include a destinationaddress that is a particular communication address to which the previouscorresponding outgoing communication may be directed. In these or otherembodiments, each log entry may include other information such as aduration of the corresponding previous outgoing communication, a timeand date of the corresponding previous outgoing communication, a day ofthe week of the corresponding previous outgoing communication, a purposeof the corresponding previous outgoing communication, an identifier of aperson associated with the destination address, an identifier of aperson associated with the origination address, a number of previousoutgoing communications directed toward the destination address from theoriginating address, a number of previous incoming communicationsdirected toward the originating address from the destination address, atotal number of previous communications between the destination addressand the originating address, etc.

By way of example, a first previous outgoing communication may originatefrom the first address 118 and may be directed toward the third-partyaddress 114. In some embodiments, the communication log 122 may includea first log entry for the first previous outgoing communication. Thefirst log entry may include the first address 118 as the originatingaddress and may include the third-party address 114 as the destinationaddress. In these or other embodiments, the first log entry may includeone or more of: a duration of the first previous outgoing communication,a time and date of the first previous outgoing communication, a day ofthe week of the first previous outgoing communication, a purpose of thefirst previous outgoing communication, a number of previous outgoingcommunications directed toward the third-party address 114 from thefirst address 118, a number of previous incoming communications directedtoward the first address 118 from the third-party address 114, and atotal number of previous communications between the third-party address114 and the first address 118.

Additionally or alternatively, as indicated above, the first address 118may be associated with the first person associated with the entity.Additionally or alternatively, the third-party address 114 may beassociated with a third person. In these or other embodiments, the firstlog entry may include a first identifier of the first person and/or athird identifier of the third person.

As another example, a second previous outgoing communication mayoriginate from the second address 120 and may also be directed towardthe third-party address 114. In some embodiments, the communication log122 may include a second log entry for the second previous outgoingcommunication. The second log entry may include the second address 118as the originating address and may include the third-party address 114as the destination address. In these or other embodiments, the secondlog entry may include one or more of: a duration of the second previousoutgoing communication, a time and date of the second previous outgoingcommunication, a day of the week of the second previous outgoingcommunication, a purpose of the second previous outgoing communication,a number of previous outgoing communications directed toward thethird-party address 114 from the second address 120, a number ofprevious incoming communications directed toward the second address 120from the third-party address 114, and a total number of previouscommunications between the third-party address 114 and the secondaddress 120.

Additionally or alternatively, as indicated above, the second address120 may be associated with the second person associated with the entityand the third-party address 114 may be associated with the third person.In these or other embodiments, the second log entry may include a secondidentifier of the second person and/or the third identifier of the thirdperson.

The communication log 122 may include any number of log entries otherthan the first and second log entries given as examples. For example,one or more of the other log entries may include the first address 118as the originating address and the third-party address 114 as thedestination address or the first address 118 as the originating addressand another third-party address as the destination address. Additionallyor alternatively, one or more of the other log entries may include thesecond address 120 as the originating address and the third-partyaddress 114 as the destination address or the second address 120 as theoriginating address and another third-party address as the destinationaddress. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the other logentries may include another specific communication address as theoriginating address and the third-party address 114 as the destinationaddress or the other communication address as the originating addressand another third-party address as the destination address. Additionallyor alternatively, one or more of the other log entries may include thegeneral address 116 as the originating address and the third-partyaddress 114 as the destination address or the general address 116 as theoriginating address and another third-party address as the destinationaddress.

Additionally or alternatively, the communication log 122 may include logentries related to incoming communications that may be received at thecommunication system 102. The log entries related to incomingcommunications may have similar information as those related to outgoingcommunications.

In some embodiments, the data storage 110 may include person information124. The person information 124 may include information about one ormore persons associated with a communication address. In someembodiments, the person information 124 may include information aboutpersons associated with communication addresses associated with thecommunication system 102. For example, the person information 124 mayinclude first information about the first person associated with thefirst address 118 and/or second information about the second personassociated with the second address 120. In these or other embodiments,the person information 124 may include information about personsassociated with third-party communication addresses. For example, theperson information 124 may include information about the third personassociated with the third-party address 114.

In some embodiments, the person information 124 may be organized asprofiles of the corresponding persons. In these or other embodiments,the identifiers that may be included in the log entries of thecommunication log 122 may be used to identify specific personinformation of persons who may correspond to the identifiers. Forexample, the first identifier of the first person included in the firstlog entry described above may be used to identify first personinformation of the first person.

In some embodiments, the person information 124 may be included in thecommunication log 122. For example, person information of personsassociated with a particular communication may be included in acorresponding log entry. For instance, the first person information ofthe first person and/or third person information of the third person maybe included in the first log entry described above.

The person information 124 may include any sort of information about thecorresponding persons. In some embodiments, the person information 124associated with third-party communication addresses may includeinformation that may be used in the routing of incoming calls from thethird-party communication addresses. For example, in some embodiments,the third person information about the third person associated with thethird-party address 114 may include demographic information of the thirdperson, including name, age, sex, address, etc., among other demographicdata. In these or other embodiments, the third person information mayfurther include health related information about the third person. Forexample, the health related information may include the height, weight,medical allergies, previous medical procedures, amount of time sinceprevious medical procedures, and current medical conditions, physicallimitations etc., among other health related information. As anotherexample, the third person information may include a purchase history,feedback history (e.g., reviews, complaints, compliments), onlineactivity, etc. of the third person.

Additionally or alternatively, the person information 124 associatedwith communication addresses that are associated with the communicationsystem 102 may include information about persons associated with thecommunication system 102 that may be used in routing incoming calls toparticular communication addresses associated with the communicationsystem 102. For example, the first person information of the firstperson associated with the first address 118 may include credentials, anexpertise level, a specialty, education, a department, a schedule (e.g.,a work schedule), position, responsibilities, etc. of the first person.The second person information may include similar information about thesecond person associated with the second address 120.

As indicated above, the router 112 may be configured to routecommunications directed toward or directed from the communicationaddresses associated with the communication system 102. The router 112may include code and routines configured to enable a computing device toperform the operations of the router 112 as described in the presentdisclosure. Additionally or alternatively, the router 112 may beimplemented using hardware including a processor, a microprocessor(e.g., to perform or control performance of one or more operations), afield-programmable gate array (FPGA), or an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC). In some other instances, the router 112 maybe implemented using a combination of hardware and software. In thepresent disclosure, operations described as being performed by therouter 112 may include operations that the router 112 may direct acorresponding system (e.g., the communication host 108 and/or thecommunication system 102) to perform.

In some embodiments, the router 112 may be configured to route one ormore outgoing communications that originate from a specificcommunication address through the general address 116. For example, withrespect to the first previous outgoing communication discussed above,the router 112 may route the first previous outgoing communication thatoriginated from the first address 118 through the general address 116and then to the third-party address 114. As such, the first previousoutgoing communication may be identified on the communication host 106as coming from the general address 116 and not the first address 118.The router 112 may similarly route the second previous outgoingcommunication discussed above and that originated from the secondaddress 120.

In these and other embodiments, routing an outgoing communicationthrough the general address 116 may include obtaining the outgoingcommunication from a specific communication address and then sending theoutgoing communication to the destination address from the generaladdress 116. Alternatively or additionally, routing an outgoingcommunication through the general address 116 may include changing theorigination address of the outgoing communication so that the generaladdress 116 is used as the origination address in the outgoingcommunication in place of the specific communication address. In theseand other embodiments, the changing of the origination address may beperformed by the communication host 108, the communication router 112,or some other device in the communication system, such as a deviceparticular to the specific communication address.

In these or other embodiments, the router 112 may be configured togenerate log entries in the communication log 122 based on the routingof the outgoing communications. Additionally or alternatively, therouter 112 may be configured to track information related to theoutgoing communications and to enter the tracked information in thecommunication log 122. For example, with respect to the first previousoutgoing communication, the router 112 may be configured to generate thefirst log entry and to include the first address 118 as the originatingaddress and to include the third-party address 114 as the destinationaddress in the first log entry. The router 112 may also be configured toinclude in the first log entry the purpose, the duration, the time ofday, the date, and/or the day of the week of the first previous outgoingcommunication. In these or other embodiments, the router 112 may beconfigured to obtain the third identifier of the third person based onthe third-party address 114 and may include the third identifier in thefirst log entry. Additionally or alternatively, the router 112 may beconfigured to obtain the first identifier of the first person based onthe first address 118 and may include the first identifier in the firstlog entry. The router 112 may be configured to generate the second logentry based on the second outgoing communication in a similar manner.

In some embodiments, the router 112 may be configured to route one ormore outgoing communications through the general address 116 to protectthe specific communication addresses from being known or visible topersons who may be contacted. However, in some instances, the personbeing contacted may reply to a corresponding previous outgoingcommunication in which it may be advantageous for the person tocommunicate with the person associated with the previous outgoingcommunication. However, due to the general address 116 being used, thepreviously contacted person may not have the contact information (e.g.,specific communication address) of the person who initiated thecorresponding previous outgoing communication.

In some embodiments, the router 112 may accordingly be configured toroute incoming communications that are directed toward the generaladdress 116 to specific communication addresses associated with thecommunication system 102 based on previous outgoing communicationsplaced from the communication system 102. As such, the specificcommunication addresses may still be unknown by the persons initiatingthe incoming communications while also putting the persons initiatingthe incoming communications in contact with persons with whom thepersons initiating the incoming communications have previouslyinteracted or who initially contacted the persons initiating theincoming communications.

To ease explanation, an example is given below with respect to therouter 112 routing an incoming communication received from thethird-party address 114. In some embodiments, the router 112 may beconfigured to route the incoming communication to a particular specificcommunication address associated with the communication system 102 basedon a particular previous outgoing communication directed toward thethird-party address 114 from the particular specific communicationaddress. For example, the router 112 may route the incomingcommunication to the first address 118 based on the first previousoutgoing communication discussed above being from the first address 118and being directed toward the third-party address 114.

In some embodiments, the router 112 may route the incoming communicationbased on the communication log 122. For example, in some embodiments, inresponse to receiving the incoming communication, the router 112 mayaccess the communication log 122 to determine whether the communicationlog 122 includes any log entries in which the third-party address 114 islisted as the destination address of any previous outgoingcommunications. For instance, the router 112 may search through thecommunication log 122 and may identify the first log entry discussedabove based on the first log entry including the third-party address 114as the destination address of the first previous outgoing communication.

In these or other embodiments, the router 112 may be configured toidentify from the first log entry that the first address 118 is theoriginating address of the first previous outgoing communication. Insome embodiments, the router 112 may be configured to route the incomingcommunication to the first address 118 based on the first address beingthe originating address of the first previous outgoing communication.

In these or other embodiments, the router 112 may also be configured toroute the incoming communication based on one or more routing factors.As discussed below, the one or more routing factors may be determinedbased on the communication log 122 and/or the person information 124. Byway of example, the one or more routing factors may include: an amountof time from when the previous outgoing communication was sent from thespecific communication address to when the incoming communication wasreceived; a current status of the specific communication address; aschedule of the person associated with the specific communicationaddress; a communication type of the incoming communication; a time ofday that the incoming communication is received; a day of the week thatthe incoming communication is received; a date that the incomingcommunication is received; a duration of one or more previouscommunications between the third-party communication address and thespecific communication address; a number of previous communicationsbetween the third-party communication address and the specificcommunication address; information about a person associated with thespecific communication address; information about a person associatedwith the third-party communication address; a purpose of the previousoutgoing communication; and a purpose of the incoming communication.

Examples are given below with respect to how the routing factors may beused to determine the routing but the examples are not meant to beexhaustive. The examples are given with respect to the incomingcommunication received from the third-party address 114 and the firstprevious outgoing communication directed toward the third-party address114 from the first address 118. However, the principles described in theexamples may be applied to any number of other communications. Further,the examples given are not mutually exclusive in that the determinationfactors associated with one example may be combined with thedetermination factors associated with one or more other examples may beused to route a particular incoming communication.

In one example, the router 112 may be configured to route the incomingcommunication based on an amount of time from when the first previousoutgoing communication was sent from the first address 118 to when theincoming communication was received. For example, in response to theamount of time being less than a threshold amount of time, the router112 may be configured to route the incoming communication to the firstaddress 118. In contrast, in response to the amount of time beinggreater than the threshold amount of time, the router 112 may beconfigured to route the incoming communication to the general address116 or to another specific communication address such as the secondaddress 120.

The threshold amount of time may be based on how likely it may be thatrouting the incoming communication to a particular specificcommunication address instead of to the general address 116 or anotherspecific communication address may improve the efficiency ofcommunications between the corresponding persons. For example, if thefirst previous outgoing communication was over 6 months prior to theincoming communication, the likelihood that the third person speaking tothe first person as opposed to another person may be advantageous may bemuch lower than if the first previous outgoing communication occurredless than one day prior to the incoming communication. The thresholdamount of time may be determined based on a historical analysis ofcommunications, surveys, feedback, etc. Examples of the threshold amountof time may include 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, etc.

In some embodiments, the router 112 may be configured to determine theamount of time from when the first previous outgoing communication wasreceived to when the incoming communication was received based on thecommunication log 122. For example, the first log entry may include atime and date of the first previous outgoing communication. The router112 may compare the time and date of the first previous outgoingcommunication against the time and date that the incoming communicationwas received to determine the amount of time between the first previousoutgoing communication and the incoming communication.

In another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on a current status of the first address118. For example, the first address 118 may be associated with atelephone account and corresponding line. In this example, the currentstatus of the first address 118 may be that the corresponding telephoneline is currently in use such that the first address 118 is unavailableat that time. Based on the unavailability of the first address 118, theincoming communication may be routed to the general address 116 or aspecific communication address other than the first address 118.Additionally or alternatively, the incoming communication may be routedto a voicemail box associated with the first address 118.

Additionally or alternatively, the current status may indicate thatthere is a queue with respect to communications with the first address118 (e.g., a telephone queue). In these or other embodiments, the router112 may route the incoming communication to the queue. Additionally oralternatively, the router 112 may route the incoming communication tothe general address 116 or a specific communication address other thanthe first address 118 in response to the queue being longer than athreshold number and/or in response to an estimated wait time beinglonger than a threshold amount.

As another example, the first address 118 may be an email address andthe current status of the first address 118 may be a number of unreademails in the corresponding email account. In these or otherembodiments, the router 112 may route the incoming communication to thefirst address 118 in response to the number of unread emails being belowa threshold number. Additionally or alternatively, the router 112 mayroute the incoming communication to the general address 116 or aspecific communication address other than the first address 118 inresponse to the number of unread emails being greater than the thresholdnumber.

In another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on a time of day, a day of the week, and/ora date that the incoming communication was received and a schedule ofthe first person. For example, the schedule of the first person mayindicate when the first person is available to attend to communicationsdirected toward the first address 118. For instance, the schedule mayindicate working times, meetings, vacations, etc. of the first person.In response to the schedule indicating that the first person isavailable at the time, day, or date that the incoming communication isreceived, the router 112 may route the incoming communication to thefirst address 118. In contrast, in response to the schedule indicatingthat the first person is not available at the time, day, or date thatthe incoming communication is received, the router 112 may route theincoming communication to the general address 116 or a specificcommunication address other than the first address 118.

Additionally or alternatively, the router 112 may be configured to routethe incoming communication based on a communication type of the incomingcommunication and the schedule of the first person. For example, theincoming communication may be a telephone call and the schedule of thefirst person may indicate that the first person is unavailable at thetime the incoming communication is received. As such, the router 112 mayroute the incoming communication to the general address 116 or aspecific communication address other than the first address 118 asindicated above. In contrast, the incoming communication may be an emailand the schedule of the first person may indicate that the first personis unavailable at the time the incoming communication is received.However, based on the incoming communication being an email, the router112 may still route the incoming communication to the first address 118.In some embodiments, the router 112 may obtain the schedule of the firstperson from the first person information of the person information 124.

As another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on a duration of one or more previouscommunications between the first address 118 and the third-party address114. The previous communications may be outgoing to the third-partyaddress 114 or incoming from the third-party address 114. For instance,in response to the first previous outgoing communication having aduration greater than a duration threshold amount of time (e.g., greaterthan 5 seconds), the router 112 may route the incoming communication tothe first address 118. In contrast, in response to the first previousoutgoing communication having a duration less than the durationthreshold, the router 112 may route the incoming communication to thegeneral address 116 or a specific communication address other than thefirst address 118. In these or other embodiments, the router 112 mayroute the incoming communication to the first address 118 when the firstprevious communication has a duration less than the duration thresholdbut also when one or more other previous communications between thefirst address 118 and the third-party address 114 having a durationgreater than the duration threshold.

In some embodiments, the duration threshold may be based on a likelihoodthat the previous communication was mistakenly placed. For example, arelatively short communication may indicate that the communication wasmistakenly placed. The duration threshold may be based on a historicalanalysis, surveys, etc. and may be anywhere between 1 and 10 seconds insome embodiments.

As another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on a number of previous communicationsbetween the first address 118 and the third-party address 114. Theprevious communications may be outgoing to the third-party address 114or incoming from the third-party address 114.

For instance, in response to number of previous communications beinggreater than a threshold number, the router 112 may route the incomingcommunication to the first address 118. In contrast, in response to thenumber of previous communications being less than the threshold number,the router 112 may route the incoming communication to the generaladdress 116 or a specific communication address other than the firstaddress 118. The threshold number of previous communications may bebased on a historical analysis, surveys, etc. and may be anywherebetween 2 and 10, in some embodiments.

As another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on information about the third personand/or information about the first person. For example, in someembodiments, the router 112 may be configured to compare the informationabout the third person with the information about the first person todetermine whether the first person may be suited to address the incomingcommunication. For instance, based on the information about the thirdperson and the information about the first person, the router 112 maydetermine that the first person has a skill set or responsibility thatmay suit one or more factors that may be included in the informationabout the third person. The router 112 may accordingly route theincoming communication to the first address 118 based on such adetermination.

In contrast, even though the first outgoing communication may have beeninitiated by the first person, the router 112 may be configured todetermine, based on the comparison between the information about thethird person and the information about the first person, that the firstperson may not be well suited to attend to the incoming communication.In some embodiments, the router 112 may accordingly be configured toroute the incoming communication to the general address 116 or aspecific communication address other than the first address 118 in someinstances. In some embodiments, the router 112 may be configured toobtain the information about the first person and/or about the thirdperson from the person information 124.

As another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on a purpose of the first previous outgoingcommunication and information about the first person. For example, insome embodiments, the router 112 may be configured to compare thepurpose of the first previous outgoing communication with theinformation about the first person to determine whether the first personmay be suited to address the incoming communication. For instance, therouter 112 may be configured to determine, based on the purpose of thefirst previous outgoing communication and the information about thefirst person, that the first person may be well suited to attend to theincoming communication. The router 112 may accordingly route theincoming communication to the first address 118.

In contrast, even though the first outgoing communication may have beeninitiated by the first person, the router 112 may be configured todetermine, based on the purpose of the first previous outgoingcommunication and the information about the first person, that the firstperson may not be well suited to attend to the incoming communication.In some embodiments, the router 112 may accordingly be configured toroute the incoming communication to the general address 116 or aspecific communication address other than the first address 118 in someinstances.

For example, the router 112 may route the incoming communication to aspecific communication address associated with a person that may be wellsuited to attend to the incoming communication. For example, the firstperson may be a nurse that leaves a message with a third personregarding results of a medical test. The nurse may not be well suited todiscuss how the results of the test reflect the health condition of thethird person. The router 112 may route an incoming communication fromthe third person to a second person, which may be a doctor of the thirdperson because the doctor may be better suited to attend to the incomingcommunication.

In some embodiments, the router 112 may be configured to obtain theinformation about the first person from the person information 124. Inthese or other embodiments, the router 112 may be configured to obtainthe purpose of the first outgoing communication from the first log entryof the communication log 122.

As another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on a purpose of the incoming communicationand information about the first person in a manner similar to thatdescribed above with respect to routing the incoming communication basedon the purpose of the first previous outgoing communication andinformation about the first person. In some embodiments, the router 112may be configured to obtain the purpose of the incoming communicationbased on information included with the incoming communication. Forexample, the incoming communication may include an email and the router112 may be configured to determine the purpose of the incomingcommunication based on content included in the subject line and/or bodyof the email.

As indicated above, in some instances more than one previous outgoingcommunication may be associated with a third-party address from which anincoming communication may be received. Additionally or alternatively,the previous outgoing communications associated with the samethird-party address may originate from different specific communicationaddresses. For example, both the first previous outgoing communicationand the second previous outgoing communication described above may bedirected toward the third-party address 114. In addition, the firstprevious outgoing communication may have originated from the firstaddress 118 and the second previous outgoing communication may haveoriginated from the second address 120. Accordingly, in someembodiments, the router 112 may be configured to determine to which ofthe specific communication addresses to route the incomingcommunication.

In some embodiments, the router 112 may be configured to determine towhich specific communication address to route the incoming communicationbased on one or more selection routing factors associated with selectingbetween specific communication addresses, as described below.

Examples are given below with respect to the selection routing factorsand how the selection routing factors may be used to determine therouting between different specific communication addresses. But, theexamples are not meant to be exhaustive. The examples are given withrespect to the incoming communication received from the third-partyaddress 114, the first previous outgoing communication to thethird-party address 114 from the first address 118, and the secondprevious outgoing communication to the third-party address 114 from thesecond address 120. However, the principles described in the examplesmay be applied to any number of other communications. Further, theexamples given are not mutually exclusive in that the determinationfactors associated with one example may be combined with thedetermination factors associated with one or more other examples may beused to route a particular incoming communication.

By way of example, the one or more selection routing factors that may beused to determine whether to route the incoming communication to thefirst address 118 or the second address 120 may include: an amount oftime from when the first previous outgoing communication was sent fromthe first address 118; an amount of time from when the second previousoutgoing communication was sent from the second address 120; a currentstatus of the first address 118; a current status of the second address120; a duration of one or more previous communications between thethird-party address 114 and the first address 118; a duration of one ormore previous communications between the third-party address 114 and thesecond address 120; a number of previous communications between thethird-party address 114 and the first address 118; a number of previouscommunications between the third-party address 114 and the secondaddress 120; information about the first person associated with thefirst address 118; information about the second person associated withthe second address 120; information about the third person associatedwith the third-party address 114; a schedule of the first person; aschedule of the second person; a time of day that the incomingcommunication is received; a day of the week that the incomingcommunication is received; the purpose of the first previous outgoingcommunication; a purpose of the second previous outgoing communication;and the purpose of the incoming communication.

In one example, the router 112 may be configured to route the incomingcommunication based on a first amount of time from when the firstprevious outgoing communication was sent to when the incomingcommunication was received as compared to a second amount of time fromwhen the second previous outgoing communication was sent to when theincoming communication was received. For example, in response to thefirst amount of time being less than the second amount of time, therouter 112 may be configured to route the incoming communication to thefirst address 118 instead of to the second address 120. In contrast, inresponse to the first amount of time being greater than the secondamount of time, the router 112 may be configured to route the incomingcommunication to the second address 120 instead of to the first address118.

In some embodiments, the router 112 may be configured to determine thefirst amount of time and the second amount of time based on thecommunication log 122. For example, the first log entry may include atime and date of the first previous outgoing communication that therouter 112 may compare against the time and date that the incomingcommunication was received to determine the first amount of time. Therouter 112 may similarly determine the second amount of time based onthe second log entry.

In another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on a first current status of the firstaddress 118 as compared to a second current status of the second address120. For example, in response to the first current status and the secondcurrent status indicating that the first address 118 is more availableto receive the incoming communication than the second address 120, therouter 112 may route the incoming communication to the first address 118instead of to the second address 120. The first current status and thesecond current status may include one or more communication addressstatuses described above.

In another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on a time of day, a day of the week, and/ora date that the incoming communication was received, a first schedule ofthe first person associated with the first address 118, and a secondschedule of the second person associated with the second address 120.For example, the first schedule may indicate when the first person isavailable to attend to communications directed toward the first address118. Similarly, the second schedule may indicate when the second personis available to attend to communications directed toward the secondaddress 120. In response to the first schedule and the second scheduleindicating that the first person is more available than the secondperson to attend to the incoming communication at the time, day, or datethat the incoming communication is received, the router 112 may routethe incoming communication to the first address 118 instead of to thesecond address 120. In some embodiments, the router 112 may beconfigured to obtain the schedule information from the personinformation 124.

As another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on one or more first durations of one ormore first previous communications between the first address 118 and thethird-party address 114 and one or more second durations of one or moresecond previous communications between the second address 120 and thethird-party address 114. The previous communications may be outgoing tothe third-party address 114 or incoming from the third-party address114.

By way of example, in response to the first previous outgoingcommunication having a duration greater than the second previousoutgoing communication, the router 112 may route the incomingcommunication to the first address 118 instead of to the second address120. As another example, in response to a first total duration of thefirst previous communications being greater than a second total durationof the second previous communications, the router 112 may route theincoming communication to the first address 118 instead of to the secondaddress 120.

In some embodiments, the router may prioritize the durations of the mostrecent previous communications over the total durations or vice versa.For example, a first duration of a first most recent previouscommunication between the first address 118 and the third-party address114 may be less than a second duration of a second most recent previouscommunication between the second address 120 and the third-party address11. However, the first total duration may be greater than the secondtotal duration. In some embodiments, the router 112 may be configured toobtain the information about the durations of previous communicationsfrom the communication log 122.

In embodiments in which the most recent communication durations areprioritized over the total durations, the incoming communication may berouted to the second address 120 instead of to the first address 118. Bycontrast, in embodiments in which the total durations are prioritizedover the most recent communication durations, the incoming communicationmay be routed to the first address 118 instead of to the second address120.

As another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on a first number of first previouscommunications between the first address 118 and the third-party address114 as compared to a second number of second previous communicationsbetween the second address 120 and the third-party address 114. Forexample, in response to the first number being greater than the secondnumber, the router 112 may route the incoming communication to the firstaddress 118 instead of to the second address 120. In some embodiments,the router 112 may be configured to obtain the information about thenumber of previous communications from the communication log 122.

As another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on first information about the firstperson, second information about the second person, and/or thirdinformation about the third person For example, in some embodiments, therouter 112 may be configured to compare the third information with thefirst information and the second information to determine whether thefirst person or the second person may be better suited to attend to theincoming communication. For instance, based on the first information,the second information, and the third information, the router 112 maydetermine that the first person has a skill set or responsibility thatmay better suit one or more factors that may be included in the thirdinformation than a skill set or responsibility of the second person. Therouter 112 may accordingly route the incoming communication to the firstaddress 118 instead of to the second address 120.

As another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on a first purpose of the first previousoutgoing communication, a second purpose of the second previous outgoingcommunication, the first information about the first person, and thesecond information about the second person. For instance, the router 112may be configured to determine, based on an analysis of the firstpurpose, the second purpose, the first information, and the secondinformation, that the first person may be better suited to attend to theincoming communication than the second person. The router 112 mayaccordingly route the incoming communication to the first address 118instead of to the second address 120. In some embodiments, the router112 may be configured to obtain the first information and/or the secondfrom the person information 124. In these or other embodiments, therouter 112 may be configured to obtain the first purpose and/or thesecond purpose from the first log entry and/or the second log entry,respectively, of the communication log 122.

As another example, the router 112 may be configured to route theincoming communication based on a purpose of the incoming communication,the first information, and the second information. For instance, therouter 112 may be configured to determine, based on an analysis of thepurpose of the incoming communication, the first information, and thesecond information, that the first person may be better suited to attendto the incoming communication than the second person. The router 112 mayaccordingly route the incoming communication to the first address 118instead of to the second address 120. In some embodiments, the router112 may be configured to obtain the purpose of the incomingcommunication based on information included with the incomingcommunication.

The communication system 102 (e.g., via the router 112 and/or the datastorage 110) may accordingly be configured to manage the routing ofincoming communications based on previous outgoing communications asdescribed above.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the environment100 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Forexample, in some embodiments, although not specifically described, thecommunication host 108 may be configured to manage any number of generalcommunication addresses and/or any number of specific communicationaddresses that may be associated with the same entity or one or moreother entities. In these or other embodiments, the communication host108 may be configured to manage any number of general communicationaccounts and/or any number of specific communication accounts that maycorrespond to the general communication addresses or the specificcommunication addresses. As such, the routing of incoming communicationsby the communication system 102 may be to any number of differentcommunication addresses other than those explicitly described.

Further, as indicated above, the various routing factors and examplesgiven above are merely examples and not limiting. For example, withrespect to the selection examples, most of the examples are given inwhich the incoming communication is routed to the first address 118instead of to the second address 120, however, the routing may be to thesecond address 120 instead of to the first address 118 depending onwhich factors may be analyzed and met.

Further, as indicated above, in some embodiments, multiple routingfactors or selection routing factors and associated determinations maybe made in making routing determinations in which there may be conflictsbetween different determinations. In these or other embodiments,different factors and determinations may be given different weights orpriorities in resolving conflicts.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example method 200 to route incomingcommunications received at a communication system. The method 200 may bearranged in accordance with at least one embodiment described in thepresent disclosure. The method 200 may be performed, in someembodiments, by a device or system, such as the communication system 102of FIG. 1 or the system 300 of FIG. 3, or another device or system. Inthese and other embodiments, the method 200 may be performed based onthe execution of instructions stored on one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media. Although illustrated as discrete blocks,various blocks may be divided into additional blocks, combined intofewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation.

The method 200 may begin at block 202, where an incoming communicationdirected toward a general communication address associated with thecommunication system (e.g., the general address 116 of FIG. 1) may bereceived at the communication system. In some embodiments, the incomingcommunication may be from a third-party communication address that maynot be associated with the communication system (e.g., the third-partyaddress 114 of FIG. 1).

At block 204, the incoming communication may be routed to a specificcommunication address associated with the communication system (e.g.,the first address 118 or the second address 120 of FIG. 1) instead of tothe general communication address. In these or other embodiments, theincoming communication may be routed to the specific communicationaddress based on the previous outgoing communication being from thespecific communication address and being directed toward the third-partycommunication address.

In these or other embodiments, information about the previous outgoingcommunication may be stored in a communication log (e.g., thecommunication log 122 of FIG. 1) that indicates that the third-partycommunication address is a destination address of the previous outgoingcommunication. The communication log may also indicate that the previousoutgoing communication originated from the specific communicationaddress. In these or other embodiments, the incoming communication maybe routed to the specific communication address based on the incomingcommunication being received from the third-party communication addressand based on the communication log including the third-partycommunication address as the destination address of the previousoutgoing communication.

In these or other embodiments, the method 200 may include identifyingthe previous outgoing communication from the communication log based onthe incoming communication being received from the third-partycommunication address and based on the communication log including thethird-party communication address as the destination address of theprevious outgoing communication. In these or other embodiments, theincoming communication may be routed based on the identification of theprevious outgoing communication from the communication log.

In these or other embodiments, the incoming communication may be routedto the specific communication address based on the incomingcommunication being received within a threshold amount of time from whenthe previous outgoing communication was sent.

In these or other embodiments, the incoming communication may be routedto the specific communication address based on one or more routingfactors that may include: an amount of time from when the previousoutgoing communication was sent from the specific communication addressto when the incoming communication was received; a current status of thespecific communication address; a schedule of a person associated withthe specific communication address; a communication type of the incomingcommunication; a time of day that the incoming communication isreceived; a day of the week that the incoming communication is received;a date that the incoming communication is received; a duration of one ormore previous communications between the third-party communicationaddress and the specific communication address; a number of previouscommunications between the third-party communication address and thespecific communication address; information about the person associatedwith the specific communication address; information about a personassociated with the third-party communication address; a purpose of theprevious outgoing communication; and a purpose of the incomingcommunication.

It is understood that, for this and other processes, operations, andmethods disclosed herein, the functions and/or operations performed maybe implemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined functionsand operations are only provided as examples, and some of the functionsand operations may be optional, combined into fewer functions andoperations, or expanded into additional functions and operations withoutdetracting from the essence of the disclosed embodiments.

For example, in some embodiments, the method 200 may further includeoperations related to determining whether to route the incomingcommunication to the specific communication address indicated above(referred to below as the “first specific communication address”) or toa second specific communication address associated with thecommunication system (e.g., to the first address 118 or to the secondaddress 120 of FIG. 1). In such instances, the previous outgoingcommunication that originated from the first specific communicationaddress may be referred to as the “first previous outgoingcommunication.” In addition, a second previous outgoing communicationmay have originated from the second specific communication address andmay have been directed toward the third-party communication address.

In these or other embodiments, the method 200 may include one or moreoperations related to routing the incoming communication to the firstspecific communication address instead of to the second specificcommunication address based on one or more selection routing factors.The selection routing factors may include one or more of: an amount oftime from when the first previous outgoing communication was sent fromthe first specific communication address; an amount of time from whenthe second previous outgoing communication was sent from the secondspecific communication address; a current status of the first specificcommunication address; a current status of the second specificcommunication address; a duration of one or more previous communicationsbetween the third-party communication address and the first specificcommunication address; a duration of one or more previous communicationsbetween the third-party communication address and the second specificcommunication address; a number of previous communications between thethird-party communication address and the first specific communicationaddress; a number of previous communications between the third-partycommunication address and the second specific communication address;information about a first person associated with the first specificcommunication address; information about a second person associated withthe second specific communication address; information about a thirdperson associated with the third-party communication address; a scheduleof the first person; a schedule of the second person; a time of day thatthe incoming communication is received; a day of the week that theincoming communication is received; a purpose of the first previousoutgoing communication; a purpose of the second previous outgoingcommunication; and a purpose of the incoming communication.

Additionally or alternatively, the method may include one or moreoperations related to receiving, from another third-party communicationaddress, another incoming communication directed toward the generalcommunication address. In these or other embodiments, the method mayinclude one or more operations related to identifying, in response toreceiving the other incoming communication, another previous outgoingcommunication directed toward the other third-party communicationaddress from the specific communication address associated with thesystem and routing the other incoming communication to the generalcommunication address instead of to the specific communication address.

In some instances, the routing to the general communication addressinstead of to the specific communication address may be based on one ormore routing factors that may include: an amount of time from when theother previous outgoing communication was sent from the specificcommunication address to when the other incoming communication wasreceived; a current status of the specific communication address; aschedule of a person associated with the specific communication address;a communication type of the other incoming communication; a time of daythat the other incoming communication is received; a day of the weekthat the other incoming communication is received; a date that the otherincoming communication is received; a duration of one or more previouscommunications between the other third-party communication address andthe specific communication address; a number of previous communicationsbetween the other third-party communication address and the specificcommunication address; information about the person associated with thespecific communication address; information about a person associatedwith the other third-party communication address; a purpose of the otherprevious outgoing communication; and a purpose of the other incomingcommunication.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example computing system 300 that may be used toroute incoming communications received at a communication system. Thesystem 300 may be arranged in accordance with at least one embodimentdescribed in the present disclosure. The system 300 may include aprocessor 310, memory 312, and a communication unit 316, which all maybe communicatively coupled. In some embodiments, the system 300 may bepart of any of the systems or devices described in this disclosure.

For example, the system 300 may be part of the communication host 106 ofFIG. 1 and may be configured to perform one or more of the operationsdescribed above with respect to the communication host 106. As anotherexample, the system 300 may be part of the communication host 108 ofFIG. 1 and may be configured to perform one or more of the operationsdescribed above with respect to the communication host 108.

Generally, the processor 310 may include any suitable special-purpose orgeneral-purpose computer, computing entity, or processing deviceincluding various computer hardware or software modules and may beconfigured to execute instructions stored on any applicablecomputer-readable storage media. For example, the processor 310 mayinclude a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), aField-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or any other digital or analogcircuitry configured to interpret and/or to execute program instructionsand/or to process data.

For example, in some embodiments, a communication router (e.g., therouter 112 of FIG. 1) may be implemented using program instructionsstored in the memory 312. The processor 310 may fetch the programinstructions of the communication router and may execute the programinstructions such that the computing system may implement the operationsassociated with the communication router as directed by theinstructions.

Although illustrated as a single processor in FIG. 3, it is understoodthat the processor 310 may include any number of processors distributedacross any number of networks or physical locations that are configuredto perform individually or collectively any number of operationsdescribed herein. In some embodiments, the processor 310 may interpretand/or execute program instructions and/or process data stored in thememory 312. In some embodiments, the processor 310 may execute theprogram instructions stored in the memory 312.

The memory 312 may include computer-readable storage media or one ormore computer-readable storage mediums for carrying or havingcomputer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Suchcomputer-readable storage media may be any available media that may beaccessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, such as theprocessor 310. As indicated above, such computer-readable storage mediamay include non-transitory computer-readable storage media includingRandom Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Compact Disc Read-OnlyMemory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, flash memory devices (e.g., solid statememory devices), or any other storage medium which may be used to carryor store particular program code in the form of computer-executableinstructions or data structures and which may be accessed by ageneral-purpose or special-purpose computer. Combinations of the abovemay also be included within the scope of computer-readable storagemedia. Computer-executable instructions may include, for example,instructions and data configured to cause the processor 310 to perform acertain operation or group of operations as described in thisdisclosure.

The communication unit 316 may include any component, device, system, orcombination thereof that is configured to transmit or receiveinformation over a network. In some embodiments, the communication unit316 may communicate with other devices at other locations, the samelocation, or even other components within the same system. For example,the communication unit 316 may include a modem, a network card (wirelessor wired), an infrared communication device, a wireless communicationdevice (such as an antenna), and/or chipset (such as a Bluetooth device,an 802.6 device (e.g., Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)), a WiFi device,a WiMax device, cellular communication facilities, etc.), and/or thelike. The communication unit 316 may permit data to be exchanged with anetwork and/or any other devices or systems described in the presentdisclosure.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the system 300without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example,in some embodiments, the system 300 may include any number of othercomponents that may not be explicitly illustrated or described. Further,depending on certain implementations, the system 300 may not include oneor more of the components illustrated and described.

In some embodiments, the different components, modules, engines, andservices described herein may be implemented as objects or processesthat execute on a computing system (e.g., as separate threads). Whilesome of the systems and methods described herein are generally describedas being implemented in software (stored on and/or executed by generalpurpose hardware), specific hardware implementations or a combination ofsoftware and specific hardware implementations are also possible andcontemplated.

In accordance with common practice, the various features illustrated inthe drawings may not be drawn to scale. The illustrations presented inthe present disclosure are not meant to be actual views of anyparticular apparatus (e.g., device, system, etc.) or method, but aremerely idealized representations that are employed to describe variousembodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, the dimensions of thevarious features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. Inaddition, some of the drawings may be simplified for clarity. Thus, thedrawings may not depict all of the components of a given apparatus(e.g., device) or all operations of a particular method.

Terms used herein and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies ofthe appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., theterm “including” should be interpreted as “including, but not limitedto,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” theterm “includes” should be interpreted as “includes, but is not limitedto,” etc.).

Additionally, if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation isintended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and inthe absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example,as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may containusage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” tointroduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should notbe construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by theindefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containingsuch introduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one”or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articlesused to introduce claim recitations.

In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitationis explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that suchrecitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number(e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” or “one or more of A, B, and C, etc.” isused, in general such a construction is intended to include A alone, Balone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, orA, B, and C together, etc. For example, the use of the term “and/or” isintended to be construed in this manner.

Further, any disjunctive word or phrase presenting two or morealternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings,should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including oneof the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, thephrase “A or B” should be understood to include the possibilities of “A”or “B” or “A and B” even if the term “and/or” is used elsewhere.

However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply thatthe introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or“an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claimrecitation to embodiments containing only one such recitation, even whenthe same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “atleast one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or“an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); thesame holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claimrecitations.

Additionally, the use of the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., arenot necessarily used herein to connote a specific order or number ofelements. Generally, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., areused to distinguish between different elements as generic identifiers.Absence a showing that the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc.,connote a specific order, these terms should not be understood toconnote a specific order. Furthermore, absence a showing that the terms“first,” “second,” “third,” etc., connote a specific number of elements,these terms should not be understood to connote a specific number ofelements. For example, a first widget may be described as having a firstside and a second widget may be described as having a second side. Theuse of the term “second side” with respect to the second widget may beto distinguish such side of the second widget from the “first side” ofthe first widget and not to connote that the second widget has twosides.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical objects to aid the reader in understanding the invention andthe concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and areto be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recitedexamples and conditions. Although embodiments of the present disclosurehave been described in detail, it should be understood that the variouschanges, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method to routecommunications, the method comprising: receiving, from a third-partycommunication address, an incoming communication directed toward ageneral communication address associated with a communication system;identifying, in response to receiving the incoming communication, aprevious outgoing communication directed toward the third-partycommunication address from a specific communication address associatedwith the communication system; and routing the incoming communication tothe specific communication address based on the previous outgoingcommunication, as identified, being from the specific communicationaddress and being directed toward the third-party communication address.2. The method of claim 1, wherein information about the previousoutgoing communication is stored in a communication log that indicatesthat the third-party communication address is a destination address ofthe previous outgoing communication and that indicates that the previousoutgoing communication originated from the specific communicationaddress, and the previous outgoing communication is identified from thecommunication log based on the incoming communication being receivedfrom the third-party communication address and based on thecommunication log including the third-party communication address as thedestination address of the previous outgoing communication.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the incoming communication is routed to thespecific communication address further based on the incomingcommunication being received within a threshold amount of time from whenthe previous outgoing communication was sent.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the incoming communication is routed to the specificcommunication address further based on one or more routing factors of aplurality of routing factors, the plurality of routing factorsincluding: an amount of time from when the previous outgoingcommunication was sent from the specific communication address to whenthe incoming communication was received; a current status of thespecific communication address; a schedule of a person associated withthe specific communication address; a communication type of the incomingcommunication; a time of day that the incoming communication isreceived; a day of the week that the incoming communication is received;a date that the incoming communication is received; a duration of one ormore previous communications between the third-party communicationaddress and the specific communication address; a number of previouscommunications between the third-party communication address and thespecific communication address; information about the person associatedwith the specific communication address; information about a personassociated with the third-party communication address; a purpose of theprevious outgoing communication; and a purpose of the incomingcommunication.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein: the specificcommunication address is a first specific communication address; theprevious outgoing communication is a first previous outgoingcommunication; and the incoming communication is routed to the firstspecific communication address instead of to a second specificcommunication address in which the second specific communication addressis associated with the communication system and in which a secondprevious outgoing communication directed toward the third-partycommunication address originated from the second specific communicationaddress, the routing to the first specific communication address insteadof to the second specific communication address being based on one ormore selection routing factors of a plurality of selection routingfactors.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of selectionrouting factors include: an amount of time from when the first previousoutgoing communication was sent from the first specific communicationaddress; an amount of time from when the second previous outgoingcommunication was sent from the second specific communication address; acurrent status of the first specific communication address; a currentstatus of the second specific communication address; a duration of oneor more previous communications between the third-party communicationaddress and the first specific communication address; a duration of oneor more previous communications between the third-party communicationaddress and the second specific communication address; a number ofprevious communications between the third-party communication addressand the first specific communication address; a number of previouscommunications between the third-party communication address and thesecond specific communication address; information about a first personassociated with the first specific communication address; informationabout a second person associated with the second specific communicationaddress; information about a third person associated with thethird-party communication address; a schedule of the first person; aschedule of the second person; a time of day that the incomingcommunication is received; a day of the week that the incomingcommunication is received; a purpose of the first previous outgoingcommunication; a purpose of the second previous outgoing communication;and a purpose of the incoming communication.
 7. One or morenon-transitory computer-readable media configured to store instructionsthat, in response to being executed by one or more processors, cause oneor more systems to perform the method of claim
 1. 8. Acomputer-implemented method to route communications, the methodcomprising: receiving, from a third-party communication address, anincoming communication directed toward a general communication addressassociated with a communication system; and routing the incomingcommunication to a specific communication address associated with thecommunication system instead of to the general communication addressbased on a previous outgoing communication being from the specificcommunication address and being directed toward the third-partycommunication address.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein informationabout the previous outgoing communication is stored in a communicationlog that indicates that the third-party communication address is adestination address of the previous outgoing communication and thatindicates that the previous outgoing communication originated from thespecific communication address, and the incoming communication is routedto the specific communication address based on the incomingcommunication being received from the third-party communication addressand based on the communication log including the third-partycommunication address as the destination address of the previousoutgoing communication.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the incomingcommunication is routed to the specific communication address furtherbased on one or more routing factors of a plurality of routing factors,the plurality of routing factors including: an amount of time from whenthe previous outgoing communication was sent from the specificcommunication address to when the incoming communication was received; acurrent status of the specific communication address; a schedule of aperson associated with the specific communication address; acommunication type of the incoming communication; a time of day that theincoming communication is received; a day of the week that the incomingcommunication is received; a date that the incoming communication isreceived; a duration of one or more previous communications between thethird-party communication address and the specific communicationaddress; a number of previous communications between the third-partycommunication address and the specific communication address;information about the person associated with the specific communicationaddress; information about a person associated with the third-partycommunication address; a purpose of the previous outgoing communication;and a purpose of the incoming communication.
 11. The method of claim 8,wherein: the incoming communication is a first incoming communication;the previous outgoing communication is a first previous outgoingcommunication; the third-party communication address is a firstthird-party communication address; and the method further comprises:receiving, from a second third-party communication address, a secondincoming communication directed toward the general communicationaddress; identifying, in response to receiving the second incomingcommunication, a second previous outgoing communication directed towardthe second third-party communication address from the specificcommunication address associated with the communication system; androuting the second incoming communication to the general communicationaddress instead of to the specific communication address based on one ormore routing factors of a plurality of routing factors, the plurality ofrouting factors including: an amount of time from when the secondprevious outgoing communication was sent from the specific communicationaddress to when the second incoming communication was received; acurrent status of the specific communication address; a schedule of aperson associated with the specific communication address; acommunication type of the second incoming communication; a time of daythat the second incoming communication is received; a day of the weekthat the second incoming communication is received; a date that thesecond incoming communication is received; a duration of one or moreprevious communications between the second third-party communicationaddress and the specific communication address; a number of previouscommunications between the second third-party communication address andthe specific communication address; information about the personassociated with the specific communication address; information about aperson associated with the second third-party communication address; apurpose of the second previous outgoing communication; and a purpose ofthe second incoming communication.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein:the specific communication address is a first specific communicationaddress; the previous outgoing communication is a first previousoutgoing communication; and the incoming communication is routed to thefirst specific communication address instead of to a second specificcommunication address in which the second specific communication addressis associated with the communication system and in which a secondprevious outgoing communication directed toward the third-partycommunication address originated from the second specific communicationaddress, the routing to the first specific communication address insteadof to the second specific communication address being based on one ormore selection routing factors of a plurality of selection routingfactors.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of selectionrouting factors include: an amount of time from when the first previousoutgoing communication was sent from the first specific communicationaddress; an amount of time from when the second previous outgoingcommunication was sent from the second specific communication address; acurrent status of the first specific communication address; a currentstatus of the second specific communication address; a duration of oneor more previous communications between the third-party communicationaddress and the first specific communication address; a duration of oneor more previous communications between the third-party communicationaddress and the second specific communication address; a number ofprevious communications between the third-party communication addressand the first specific communication address; a number of previouscommunications between the third-party communication address and thesecond specific communication address; information about a first personassociated with the first specific communication address; informationabout a second person associated with the second specific communicationaddress; information about a third person associated with thethird-party communication address; a schedule of the first person; aschedule of the second person; a time of day that the incomingcommunication is received; a day of the week that the incomingcommunication is received; a purpose of the first previous outgoingcommunication; a purpose of the second previous outgoing communication;and a purpose of the incoming communication.
 14. One or morenon-transitory computer-readable media configured to store instructionsthat, in response to being executed by one or more processors, cause oneor more systems to perform the method of claim
 8. 15. A communicationsystem comprising: data storage configured to store a communication logof a plurality of previous outgoing communications from thecommunication system; one or more processors; and one or morecomputer-readable media configured to store instructions that inresponse to being executed by the one or more processors cause thecommunication system to perform operations, the operations comprising:receiving, from a third-party communication address, an incomingcommunication directed toward a general communication address associatedwith the communication system; identifying, from the communication login response to receiving the incoming communication, a previous outgoingcommunication of the plurality of previous outgoing communicationsdirected toward the third-party communication address from a specificcommunication address associated with the communication system; androuting the incoming communication to the specific communication addressbased on the previous outgoing communication, as identified, being fromthe specific communication address and being directed toward thethird-party communication address.
 16. The communication system of claim15, wherein the communication log indicates that the third-partycommunication address is a destination address of the previous outgoingcommunication and that indicates that the previous outgoingcommunication originated from the specific communication address, andthe previous outgoing communication is identified from the communicationlog based on the incoming communication being received from thethird-party communication address and based on the communication logincluding the third-party communication address as the destinationaddress of the previous outgoing communication.
 17. The communicationsystem of claim 15, wherein the incoming communication is routed to thespecific communication address further based on one or more routingfactors of a plurality of routing factors, the plurality of routingfactors including: an amount of time from when the previous outgoingcommunication was sent from the specific communication address to whenthe incoming communication was received; a current status of thespecific communication address; a schedule of a person associated withthe specific communication address; a communication type of the incomingcommunication; a time of day that the incoming communication isreceived; a day of the week that the incoming communication is received;a date that the incoming communication is received; a duration of one ormore previous communications between the third-party communicationaddress and the specific communication address; a number of previouscommunications between the third-party communication address and thespecific communication address; information about the person associatedwith the specific communication address; information about a personassociated with the third-party communication address; a purpose of theprevious outgoing communication; and a purpose of the incomingcommunication.
 18. The communication system of claim 15, wherein: theincoming communication is a first incoming communication; the previousoutgoing communication is a first previous outgoing communication; thethird-party communication address is a first third-party communicationaddress; and the operations further comprise: receiving, from a secondthird-party communication address, a second incoming communicationdirected toward the general communication address; identifying, inresponse to receiving the second incoming communication, a secondprevious outgoing communication directed toward the second third-partycommunication address from the specific communication address associatedwith the communication system; and routing the second incomingcommunication to the general communication address instead of to thespecific communication address based on one or more routing factors of aplurality of routing factors, the plurality of routing factorsincluding: an amount of time from when the second previous outgoingcommunication was sent from the specific communication address to whenthe second incoming communication was received; a current status of thespecific communication address; a schedule of a person associated withthe specific communication address; a communication type of the secondincoming communication; a time of day that the second incomingcommunication is received; a day of the week that the second incomingcommunication is received; a date that the second incoming communicationis received; a duration of one or more previous communications betweenthe second third-party communication address and the specificcommunication address; a number of previous communications between thesecond third-party communication address and the specific communicationaddress; information about the person associated with the specificcommunication address; information about a person associated with thesecond third-party communication address; a purpose of the secondprevious outgoing communication; and a purpose of the second incomingcommunication.
 19. The communication system of claim 15, wherein: thespecific communication address is a first specific communicationaddress; the previous outgoing communication is a first previousoutgoing communication; and the incoming communication is routed to thefirst specific communication address instead of to a second specificcommunication address in which the second specific communication addressis associated with the communication system and in which a secondprevious outgoing communication directed toward the third-partycommunication address originated from the second specific communicationaddress, the routing to the first specific communication address insteadof to the second specific communication address being based on one ormore selection routing factors of a plurality of selection routingfactors.
 20. The communication system of claim 19, wherein the pluralityof selection routing factors include: an amount of time from when thefirst previous outgoing communication was sent from the first specificcommunication address; an amount of time from when the second previousoutgoing communication was sent from the second specific communicationaddress; a current status of the first specific communication address; acurrent status of the second specific communication address; a durationof one or more previous communications between the third-partycommunication address and the first specific communication address; aduration of one or more previous communications between the third-partycommunication address and the second specific communication address; anumber of previous communications between the third-party communicationaddress and the first specific communication address; a number ofprevious communications between the third-party communication addressand the second specific communication address; information about a firstperson associated with the first specific communication address;information about a second person associated with the second specificcommunication address; information about a third person associated withthe third-party communication address; a schedule of the first person; aschedule of the second person; a time of day that the incomingcommunication is received; a day of the week that the incomingcommunication is received; a purpose of the first previous outgoingcommunication; a purpose of the second previous outgoing communication;and a purpose of the incoming communication.